The Rose Daughter
by shrimp-chan
Summary: Berlin, 1939: The story behind the story begins with a young woman named Maria. This is my weird little take on how the world of Cybersix came to be.
1. One

Chapter One  
  
"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please." - Mark Twain  
  
Maria Schweitzer paid the bus fare and looked for a seat. Finding one close to the front,  
  
she sat down and placed her books on her lap. Presently the bus, its brakes letting out a   
  
brief hiss, pulled out into the busy afternoon traffic.  
  
Maria was nineteen, wealthy and beautiful. And everyone knew it. She had shoulder-length  
  
naturally red hair, complemented by her fair skin and deep green eyes. At average height, her   
  
graceful body was the envy of women and the daydream of men. As of late, she had even come to   
  
be referred to as "die Rosa von Berlin."  
  
Maria, however, was not as enthusiastic about her appearance as her peers. She felt glad  
  
to be beautiful, certainly, but she often found that it created obstacles for her. These   
  
obstacles had proved even more frustrating than usual in the past year.  
  
As was custom in the upper classes, Maria had had her "coming out" when she turned 18.   
  
Now that she had entered society as a woman, her family had no doubt that she would find a   
  
husband by the end of the season. Imagine the shock of Herr and Frau Schweitzer when Maria was  
  
still unmarried as the season ended and announced that she wanted to go to college!  
  
The arguing began. Maria was not attracted to any of the men she had met, she claimed.  
  
"I want to do something meaningful in my life," she explained, "I want to learn more, to  
  
do something intelligent."  
  
Herr Schweitzer remarked that the intelligent thing to do would be to find a husband   
  
before it was too late.  
  
"You'll be so busy with your nose in a book, you'll miss your chance to marry and end up  
  
a lonely spinster!" he prophesized, to which his daughter slammed her bedroom door shut so hard  
  
the wall rattled.  
  
Stubbornly staying her ground, and amidst much lamenting from her mother, Maria finally   
  
was allowed to continue her education at a women's college. She still attended all the society   
  
functions, hearing several inane comments such as "but you're such a lovely girl!" and "you'll   
  
meet a nice young man and forget all about it." At least they seemed to understand her interest  
  
in young children's education. Maternal tendencies, they said. A good quality in a woman.  
  
Dusk was approaching as Maria stepped off the bus at her stop. The streetlights flickered  
  
on and a chilly evening breeze sent hands burrowing into coat pockets. Maria held her books   
  
closer to her body and quickened her pace. She was anxious to get inside a warm house and sit   
  
down to dinner.  
  
She hopped up the front steps and turned her key in the lock, humming softly.  
  
"Mutti," Maria called as she entered the front hall and shut the door behind her, "Papa?   
  
I'm home." Sounds of acknowledgement emanated from the other end of the house. A slight,   
  
dark-haired woman came into the hall, smiling.   
  
"I'll put your things away for you, Fraulein Maria," she offered, picking up the purse   
  
and books from the table they had been piled upon.  
  
"Thank you, Janina," replied Maria. She squeezed the woman's free hand before heading   
  
for the dining room.   
  
Janina sighed happily as she climbed the stairs with Maria's things. For in her hand,   
  
folded into a tiny square, was now a 20-mark bill. 


	2. Two

Chapter Two  
  
"We do not want any other God than Germany itself." - Adolf Hitler  
  
The country had gone mad.  
  
At least, it seemed so to Maria. She had been born after the Great War and thus did not  
  
have many clear memories of the hard, post-war years. Yet she knew, she felt, that over the   
  
last decade, her world had dramatically changed. And the change was because of the Fuhrer.  
  
Hitler. Could people talk of no one else? To the wealthy class Maria had been raised in,  
  
he seemed more of a god than a chancellor. Among the middle and lower classes, she discovered,  
  
opinion was much the same. Everywhere his praises were being sung. His new national flag   
  
stained the city streets red and black. And the absolute hysteria whenever his party held a   
  
rally never failed to make Maria's knees shake.  
  
That feeling of intimidation was twinned with fear as she began to learn Hitler's plans   
  
for Germany. Along with righting the wrongs of the Treaty of Versailles and reviving the   
  
economy, the Fuhrer spoke with great fury about solving what he called "the Jewish Problem."   
  
According to Hitler, Jews were not only responsible for a variety of evils, but were also an   
  
inferior race. This prejudice was already shared by many of Hitler's followers, and with his   
  
encouragement began to grow into hatred.   
  
Maria was at first confused by this hate. The only Jewish people she knew were the   
  
Schweitzers' housekeeper Janina and a few shop owners. She had tried to think of how they   
  
might be wronging the community, but she could never come up with anything convincing. They   
  
were just people living their lives. The more she heard, the more Maria realised that her   
  
country was under the control of a strange new darkness.  
  
With the same stubbornness that got her into college, Maria began a series of secret   
  
rebellions. Some nights, when she was sure everyone in the house was asleep, she would quietly  
  
sneak out the back door with any leftover food she thought no one would really miss. In a   
  
winter coat and a scarf worn like a hijab, Maria would find her way to the Jewish   
  
neighbourhoods and give her gifts to the needy people there. After a few visits, she no longer   
  
had to leave the food on doorsteps, for there would be someone waiting in the shadows for her   
  
who would distribute her gifts among the people.  
  
Maria knew that what she was doing was extremely dangerous. The consequences of being   
  
caught would be those of a traitor. But something told her to continue. She just couldn't   
  
bring herself to turn yet another back on the persecution.  
  
Because of the incredible danger of her actions, Maria tried to avoid recognition. She   
  
hid her actions even from Janina, for she, being Jewish, would suffer far worse punishment   
  
than a gentile if discovered to be a conspirator. All Janina knew about were Maria's secret   
  
gifts of money to her. As for the people in the Jewish neighbourhoods, those who waited in   
  
the dark to receive the food gifts told only of a young gentile woman who was risking her life  
  
to help them. Maria was always careful to keep her hair tied back and to keep her eyes   
  
downcast. However, just in case, she always swore along with the recipient that neither would   
  
identify the other, even if caught. It was sometimes the only thing on which Maria felt she  
  
could rely.  
  
****  
  
"...And then the next week you go to Warsaw."  
  
Rudi shook his head and finished chewing. "No, first we go to the conference in Munich.   
  
Then Warsaw."  
  
"Well, I hope you'll get back in time for Christmas."  
  
"Of course."  
  
The Schweitzers were in the dining room, eating dinner and discussing schedules. Rudi   
  
was explaining his winter agenda so that Christmas celebrations could be organised for times   
  
the family would all be in one place.  
  
Maria feigned interest in her brother's military duties. She wondered in amusement how   
  
long he would focus on his work before his hair became the main priority again. Rudi had also   
  
been blessed with the family's good looks, but was a great deal more proud of it than his   
  
little sister. She assumed his easy entry into the SS hadn't done much to humble him. After   
  
all, he was the blond Aryan ideal.  
  
Maria was immersed in her thoughts and in impaling a pea on each prong of her fork when   
  
she was awakened by her mother's voice.   
  
"Speaking of celebrations," Frau Schweitzer began, "we're going to be having some rather  
  
interesting guests on Saturday." She had been planning a large dinner party for several weeks.  
  
"What sort of interesting guests?" Maria wondered what her mother was up to.  
  
"A very respectable Bavarian family. They've just moved here." She paused for effect.   
  
"They wanted to live closer to their son. He's just finished his medical degree at the   
  
university."  
  
Oh.  
  
"Their name is von Reichter." 


	3. Three

Chapter Three  
  
"Showing up is 80 percent of life." - Woody Allen  
  
Late Saturday afternoon, Maria was busy in her room, preparing for the dinner party.   
  
She leaned in closer to the mirror on her vanity and carefully applied a wine-red lipstick.   
  
She wore a cream-coloured dress, falling just below her knees, as was the latest style. Its   
  
off-the-shoulder sleeves made it clear that this was exclusively evening wear. Maria did not   
  
dress quite so daringly most of the time, but she felt she might as well at a party. Besides,   
  
it helped to calm talk about her "wallflower" leanings.  
  
Fluffing her hair one last time, Maria closed her bedroom door behind her and walked   
  
downstairs to the parlour. Rudi was already there, flipping through a magazine. He was for   
  
once dressed in clothes other than his uniform, which relieved Maria, who was frankly annoyed   
  
at the way he usually strutted around in it from dawn to dusk. He noticed her enter the room   
  
but didn't look up from his reading.  
  
"Mutti's been planning this dinner for weeks," he said to the magazine.  
  
"I know."  
  
"So don't embarrass us." He leaned away from the pillow flying at him from Maria's   
  
direction. "Like that."  
  
"Arschloch," Maria huffed to herself as the doorbell rang. Her mother appeared from   
  
somewhere at the other end of the house and pattered through the front hall to answer the door.  
  
Instinctively, Maria and Rudi dropped their feuding and, in the way they had done since   
  
childhood, prepared to greet and socialise.  
  
Soon, the parlour was full of guests, laughing and talking. So many people arrived, in   
  
fact, that Maria eventually lost track of several. Once the doorbell seemed to have stopped   
  
ringing, she took a glass of wine from the table and sat in the corner of the couch. She was   
  
already beginning to feel bored.  
  
"So, you are the rebellious scholar."  
  
Maria looked up, startled, in the direction the smooth voice had come from. Standing   
  
there, smiling coolly, was a man whose appearance Maria could only describe as aristocratic.   
  
He was about the same height as she, and a little thin. He had black hair and dark eyes,   
  
focused on her from behind a pair of glasses. His nose was rather long, but somehow it suited   
  
him. He sensed Maria's curiosity and extended a hand.  
  
"Perhaps I should introduce myself. Maximillien von Reichter, Ph.D." They shook hands   
  
and he sat down next to her. "You are Maria, is that right?"  
  
Maria nodded. She was used to men striking up conversations with her, and had learned to  
  
tolerate it as best she could.  
  
"My mother tells me you've just graduated, Herr Doktor." They loved to try to impress   
  
her with titles. And then...  
  
"Please, call me Max." They would suddenly become modest. She smiled and he continued.   
  
Yes, I now have my doctorate in biology. What is it that you've been studying?"  
  
Maria was astonished. She didn't quite know what to say. Had he really asked her?  
  
Max laughed as she stared at him, her eyes the size of dinner plates.  
  
"Didn't expect me to ask you that, did you?" he grinned. "Not something many men have   
  
discussed with you, I take it."  
  
"No - no, hardly ever," Maria stammered, turning a little pink. Without thinking she   
  
added, "and if they do ask, I don't think they really care." She put a hand to her mouth.   
  
"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean -"   
  
"It's perfectly all right, don't apologise," he said, taking a sip of his wine. He had   
  
a very small mouth. "I would like to learn what you think about many more things."  
  
Maria, by now completely bewildered, was about to respond when dinner was announced.   
  
She and Max rose, and he wordlessly offered her his arm to escort her to the dining room.   
  
Shyly, she took it, hoping no one would be able to tell how nervous she was.  
  
The conversation at dinner was the same as usual. Politics, the military, other people's   
  
lives - Maria followed them easily and tried to immerse herself in what was going on so that   
  
she could push her nervousness deep down inside, where no one would detect it. It was   
  
difficult. Max was sitting on the opposite side of the table and kept looking at her. She   
  
found herself doing the same.  
  
Frau Schweitzer, not able to stand it anymore, took advantage of a brief lapse in the   
  
conversation and turned the table's attention to the doctor sitting across from her daughter.  
  
"Doctor, your mother tells me you're quite brilliant," she gave him a smile.  
  
He gave her one back and responded cleverly, "well, she is my mother." There was a   
  
good-natured chuckle from the other diners.  
  
"Yes, but she says you received your degree much earlier than most." Intelligent and   
  
charming. Frau Schweitzer was liking the young man more and more.  
  
"That's true. I did."  
  
"Well, I'll be interested in watching the career of such a man as yourself take off.   
  
Won't you, Maria?"  
  
All eyes fixed on Maria in fascination as she turned pink again and silently wished she   
  
could sink into the floor. How embarrassing!  
  
"Uh, yes - I - yes, I would." She didn't know where to look and ended up staring right   
  
at Max, which only made her blush more.  
  
After what seemed like several years, the evening finally came to an end. The   
  
Schweitzers thanked their guests and waved at the cars pulling out into the dark street.   
  
Maria was waving when she felt a hand on her arm. She turned to see that the hand belonged to   
  
Max, who was taking her aside.  
  
"It was wonderful to finally meet you," he said quietly. "I've never met any woman like   
  
you before. You're one of a kind."  
  
Maria felt reluctant to accept his compliment. "Max, I..."  
  
"I hope you won't think me too forward," he cut in, "but I wonder if you'd like to go   
  
with me to the opening night of Tristan and Isolde?"  
  
Maria's eyes lit up. She had been hoping to see it for weeks.  
  
I'd love to," she beamed, hardly believing what she was hearing herself say.  
  
He took her hand in his, dark eyes piercing, even through his glasses.   
  
"Until then," he purred. And with a polite bow to his hosts, the doctor strolled into   
  
the night air.  
  
Maria felt eyes boring into the back of her head as she stood at the window by the door.   
  
She turned and rubbed at her eye. "I think I'll go get ready for bed now." She kissed each   
  
parent on the cheek. "Good night."  
  
Her father had an amused look on his face, shared by his wife and son. "What did you   
  
think of that Dr. von Reichter?" he called after her.  
  
Maria laughed as she climbed the staircase. "I honestly don't know," she confessed. 


	4. Four

Chapter Four  
  
"Learning without thought is useless. Thought without learning is dangerous." - Confucius  
  
Throughout the following week, Maria was frequently disgusted to find herself   
  
daydreaming about her upcoming date with Max. She still couldn't believe how she had acted at   
  
the dinner party. He was just a man after all, she told herself - just another rich, self-  
  
assured man who wanted nothing more than to sleep with her and brag about it to his friends.   
  
But no, a part of her had begun to argue, not this one. He was different. He wanted to know   
  
her mind - hadn't he said it himself? She couldn't decide what she believed, and it bothered   
  
her.  
  
It wasn't completely Maria's fault she was so confused. She had been treated as some   
  
sort of commodity even as a twelve-year-old girl in braids and a school uniform. Men had acted   
  
the same way around her for so long that to encounter one who did not left her without any   
  
idea of how to respond. Could it be that she, the woman who so hated the prejudice around her,   
  
was herself deeply prejudiced?  
  
Needless to say, it was a week without much sleep.  
  
When the anticipated day arrived, Maria hurried her way home as best she could through   
  
the busy Friday traffic. She headed straight up the stairs into her room, not wanting to waste   
  
a minute of preparation time, cosmetic or mental.  
  
Maria studied the inside of her closet confusedly. She had never had a date with a man   
  
who was interested in anything more than her body. How should she dress? What would he think   
  
if she wore something revealing? Something modest?  
  
She realised what she was thinking and almost laughed out loud. The whole reason she was   
  
going on this date, after all, was because Max liked her mind. He probably couldn't care less   
  
what she wore! With this new realisation, Maria cheerfully put on her favourite formal outfit   
  
and was ready to go in only a few minutes.  
  
When the doorbell rang, Maria hopped down the stairs, hoping to get to the door before   
  
her mother could. Luckily she made it. Opening the door, she was greeted by the impeccably   
  
dressed Max and a dozen white roses.  
  
"Oh, thank you, Max! They're my favourite!" She inhaled the almost sugary aroma. "Mmm   
  
- oh! I'm sorry, won't you come in?" She remembered her manners.   
  
"Thank you." He stepped in and took off his hat. "And good evening to you, madam."   
  
Maria followed his gaze. Her mother had appeared. Please, please don't embarrass me, she   
  
prayed.  
  
Fate smiled upon Maria and her mother responded without saying anything uncomfortable.   
  
Max helped her with her coat and they were presently on their way.  
  
Having grown up surrounded by wealth, Maria was not surprised to see that Max's car was   
  
a highly-polished Mercedes. Still, she wasn't too jaded to enjoy the feel and smell of the   
  
leather interior. Max, in classic German fashion, drove exceedingly well, if rather fast, and   
  
soon they arrived at their first destination - a very posh and exclusive restaurant.  
  
"You certainly know how to impress a date," teased Maria as she sat across the table   
  
from Max. "Who told you I like white roses?"  
  
"I have my ways of finding these things out," he replied in a mischievous tone.  
  
"And what else did my mother tell you about me?"  
  
Max laughed. "Consistent, is she?" Maria rolled her eyes in confirmation. "Well," he   
  
continued, she told me that you're studying Early Childhood Education."  
  
"Yes, but I'll hazard a guess that she didn't sound too happy about it," grumbled Maria.  
  
"Does she disapprove of your field of interest?"  
  
She sighed. "Mutti disapproves of my interest." Realising that at last she had the   
  
attention of someone who might actually care, Maria then launched into a lengthy explanation   
  
of family problems which lasted through a large part of dinner.  
  
"My goodness!" Max commented when she seemed to have finished, "how long have you been   
  
holding that in?"  
  
She gave him a sad smile. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have rambled on so long. You must be   
  
falling asleep."  
  
"On the contrary, I found it very informative."  
  
An awful thought suddenly struck her. "You won't tell them what I said, will you? Oh,   
  
please don't!" begged Maria. "If they ever found out..."  
  
"I won't repeat a thing," he assured her as a waiter came by with the bill. "You have   
  
my word."  
  
He sounded sincere and Maria felt comfortable enough to believe his promise. He paid the   
  
bill and tip, and they headed to the opera.  
  
The theatre was busy with people as Max and Maria entered. Maria remembered how relieved   
  
she had been by an article in the newspaper that morning. Because he was away touring the   
  
utterly defeated Poland, it had mentioned, the Fuhrer would not be attending the opening night   
  
of the opera as he usually did. This information had lifted a significant weight from her   
  
shoulders, for as much as she might hate and disrespect him, Maria could not deny that Hitler   
  
absolutely terrified her.   
  
The rest of the evening passed very pleasantly. The opera was well performed and, though   
  
the ending was sad, Maria was left happy because it had been so moving. Despite his detestable   
  
anti-Semitism, Wagner did have some idea, she reasoned, of what love was. Which was more than   
  
some people were capable of comprehending.   
  
She felt the effects of the wine and the late evening beginning to set in as Max drove   
  
her home. By the time they pulled up in front of the stately house, Maria felt her eyelids   
  
getting heavy.  
  
In the dim glow of the porch light, she thanked Max for the wonderful evening - really,   
  
the only date she had ever truly enjoyed. They said goodnight, and a moment of awkward silence   
  
followed.  
  
Suddenly, Maria felt Max's hands gently closing around her own. She tensed as a strange   
  
sensation made her heart beat faster.  
  
"Max…"   
  
"Maria." He said her name as if giving the answer to a question. His hands moved to her   
  
face. She sighed despite herself and felt a sense of well being overcoming her fear.  
  
Finally giving in to her strong, unfamiliar emotions, Maria closed her eyes and   
  
experienced her first kiss. 


	5. Five

Chapter Five   
  
"Never try to outsmart a woman, unless you are another woman." -William Lyon Phelps  
  
Hauptmann Schweitzer adjusted his hat and surveyed the street from the shelter of an   
  
overhang. Nothing much going on. In half an hour he could get out of the cold and head back to   
  
Berlin for Christmas. He would be glad to go. Warsaw was a miserable place to be in the winter.  
  
"Hauptmann!"  
  
He turned to see another officer crossing the street towards him. As the man approached,   
  
Schweitzer recognised him as fellow Hauptmann Reinhart Bergen. They saluted.  
  
"Bergen, you old son of a bitch, I didn't know you were stationed here too!"  
  
His friend grinned. "And I'm getting out as soon as I can. Horrible weather!" Schweitzer   
  
and Bergen began to head back toward City Hall.  
  
They passed a young woman and a thought occurred to Bergen.  
  
"So Rudi, what's all this I keep hearing about your sister seeing a man?" he asked   
  
teasingly.  
  
Schweitzer raised a tawny eyebrow. "Surprised?"  
  
"Well, quite frankly, yes! Who is this superman who walks on water and wins the fair   
  
lady's hand?"  
  
"His name is Maximillien von Reichter. He's a skinny little doctor from Bavaria."  
  
"You're kidding."  
  
"I kid you not."  
  
"Well for God's sake, if we'd have known that's what she wanted, every man in Berlin   
  
would have changed addresses and gone to medical school!" laughed Bergen.  
  
"Ah, but you know that wouldn't work."  
  
"Wouldn't it?" he mocked.  
  
"Of course not - she'd still be able to tell you were a load of horny bastards!" They   
  
both burst into laughter.  
  
Maria laughed as the little dachshund puppy struggled to pick up a ball nearly the same   
  
size as itself. Another puppy noticed Maria and pressed its tiny paws against the window,   
  
yapping excitedly.  
  
"They're so adorable! I just want to take them all home with me!" she gushed.  
  
Max made a noise of polite agreement, although he didn't really share Maria's enthusiasm   
  
for fuzzy little animals. They had run into each other while Christmas shopping and now,   
  
walking home, Maria had stopped outside a pet shop window to exalt over a litter of wiggling   
  
puppies.  
  
"My family had a dachshund when I was a little girl," she explained as she straightened   
  
up. "I love them." Max recalled his father's Alsatians as they continued on their way.  
  
  
  
Despite the war with England and her allies, Christmas 1939 was relatively normal for   
  
the Schweitzers and their friends. Presents collected underneath the glimmering Christmas tree,   
  
and the house was filled with the nostalgic smelled of pine and Yuletide baking. Sibling   
  
rivalry waned (as way always attempted at this festive time of year), and Maria even tried her   
  
best to tolerate her brother's hopelessly dim-witted girlfriend.  
  
On Christmas Eve, when presents were to be opened, there was knock at the door. It was   
  
Max, with Maria's gift, which he had explained on the telephone had to be brought in person   
  
that evening.  
  
There was a very strange sound coming from the whatever-it-was as the family and Max   
  
settled in the parlour. Maria very carefully lifted the top of the gift box, not quite sure   
  
what to expect.  
  
Her eyes grew wide as a velvety brown head and two scrabbling paws emerged, wiggling   
  
excitedly. Maria squealed with joy as she lifted the dachshund puppy out of the box.  
  
"I can't believe it! Oh, thank you thank you thank you!" Maria wrapped her arms around   
  
Max and, catching the rest of her family quite off guard, kissed him boldly.  
  
Her parents and brother smiled at each other proudly. It looked as if Maria might become   
  
a bride after all.  
  
This observation was more than just wishful thinking. Anyone who had seen Maria that   
  
winter would have agreed with the Schweitzers. She and Max were constant companions. They went   
  
to movies, took walks with Lilli the pup, and beat each other at chess. They worked on Maria's   
  
homework and even had the first dance of 1940.  
  
For Maria, her time spent with Max was a bright spot in an increasingly dark world. The   
  
persecution of Jews continued without mercy and countries fell to the Reich at a frightening   
  
pace, but with Max's arm around her, Maria felt a little more hopeful. Maybe, she concluded,   
  
maybe this feeling was love.  
  
One night early in the year, when the ground was just beginning to thaw, Maria crept out   
  
of the house on another of her secret missions. This time, however, she wasn't going out to   
  
give food. She was going out to get information.  
  
She had walked into the kitchen that morning to discover a new housekeeper. A very   
  
obviously Nordic one. When she asked where Janina was, her father answered that she had been   
  
"called away," in a matter-of-fact voice Maria knew meant "no more questions." It bothered her   
  
intuition all day, and by evening she was determined to find out whether or not her suspicions   
  
were right.  
  
As she made her way into the Jewish neighbourhoods, Maria saw that she had been right to   
  
worry. It was bizarre. Everything was as still as death. The only light came from a few street   
  
lamps, dimly illuminating block after block of empty yards and dark, locked up houses. It was   
  
utterly deserted. Either deserted, Maria concluded with a sinking feeling, or emptied out.  
  
"Stop! Who's there?"  
  
Maria felt her blood turn to ice. She whirled around to face the piercing beam of a   
  
flashlight. A flashlight held in the hand of a trenchcoated officer.  
  
This is it, thought Maria. I'm dead. They would interrogate her. Take her to court and   
  
find her guilty of treason. And then she would hang. They would hang her publicly in the square   
  
where she would slowly twist in the wind, eyes bulging out of her blue face -  
  
"What are you doing here?" The officer demanded, having regained his composure after the   
  
shock of finding a pretty redhead in his flashlight beam.   
  
Maria hesitated for what felt to her like several hours, frantically thinking of what to   
  
say. An idea struck her. It was revolting, but she had no other plan, and not much time either.  
  
She sighed in relief and put a hand to her chest. "Oh, thank goodness! I was so afraid   
  
you were a thief or some maniac about to kill me!" she giggled.  
  
The officer's expression faintly softened. "What are you doing here, Fraulein?" he   
  
repeated. She approached him with a sexy swing in her step. "My little puppy ran away. I was   
  
looking all over for her and before I knew it I got lost," she explained with a little pout.  
  
The man smiled. She was only a harmless girl. And not a bad-looking one at that. He   
  
sneaked a quick look at her chest.  
  
"Come on," he gave her his arm. "I'll take you back home." Maria grinned and took it.  
  
She told him her address and they set out off through the dark streets. The conversation   
  
was light and the officer said he was sure the puppy would turn up somewhere. He was not   
  
particularly intelligent, Maria could tell, and easily distracted by the attention of women.   
  
To her additional relief, he was middle class and therefore not likely to have heard of her.   
  
She was free to playact without much suspicion.Arriving at Maria's house, the officer was   
  
about to bring her to the front door when she tugged on him to stop. He looked down at her in   
  
confusion.  
  
"Oh no, please don't wake up my parents," she begged. "They'll never let me out of the   
  
house again! Let me go in through the back door?"  
  
The officer looked stern. "I'm sorry Fraulein, but it's my duty. Besides, it's too   
  
dangerous for a woman to be out by herself at night."  
  
Maria moved closer to him, so that her breasts were pressed against his uniform.  
  
"Please? I promise I won't do it again," she said in a sugary voice. The man's eyes were   
  
wide.  
  
"Uh, well..."  
  
She let her leg brush against his. "Just this once?" she breathed.  
  
Now he had broken into a sweat. Maria fingered his hair.  
  
"Oh - all right," he gave in, stammering a little. Maria giggled and strutted over to   
  
the garden gate. She turned to give him a little wave before disappearing around the side of   
  
the house.  
  
The officer returned the wave in a daze. "Just -" he began to call as she turned the   
  
corner, "- um...don't...do it again," he finished to himself.  
  
Inside, Maria breathed a sigh of relief as she locked the door behind her. Entering the   
  
hall, she met up with Lilli, who whined and licked her owner's hand. Maria told her to stay   
  
quiet and carried her up the stairs.  
  
It was only as she pulled the bedcovers over herself and Lilli that Maria began to cry.   
  
She tried to silence it under her pillow but the tears just wouldn't stop. She cried in fear   
  
for the missing Jews. She cried in disgust at what she had done to save herself. But she cried   
  
the most in realising there were no choices left. The days of rebellion were over. It was   
  
imperative now, to save her life, that Maria Schweitzer fit in. And a crucial part of her   
  
fitting in, she knew, was marriage. 


	6. Six

Chapter Six  
  
"I will now read the special vows which Homer has prepared for this occasion. Do you,   
  
Marge, take Homer, in richness and in poorness? - Poorness is underlined - In impotence   
  
and potence? In quiet solitude or blasting across the alkali flats in a jet-powered   
  
monkey-navigated...and it goes on like this." - Reverend Lovejoy, the Simpsons  
  
The von Reichter - Schweitzer wedding was held in June 1940, at the Kaiser Wilhelm   
  
Memorial Church.  
  
Maria stood in front of a mirror in the small room as school friends, cousins and aunts   
  
fluttered over the final touches on her outfit. And it was nothing short of spectacular. The   
  
Schweitzers had spared no expense in financing such an anxiously awaited event. The white   
  
satin gown shone in the light, showing off how perfectly it fit its wearer. A diamond necklace   
  
dripped from Maria's neck down to the low front of the gown. Diamond earrings dripped to match,   
  
and a tiara of white roses secured the veil cascading down over her hair. The effect was   
  
ethereal, and even Maria felt a little excited to see herself standing there, holding a white   
  
rose bouquet. A memory stirred...  
  
She remembered playing "wedding" with her friends as a little girl. Her best friend was   
  
a boy named Josef, and he was always made to be the groom while the girls took turns as the   
  
bride. He had been a good friend, never a love interest, yet somehow Maria had always assumed   
  
they would marry one day.  
  
But childhood and all its assumptions ended the year Maria turned thirteen. Hitler, the   
  
new chancellor, began to persecute his opponents and so-called "enemies of the Reich." Josef's   
  
father was an artist and found himself under fire for his abstract, "degenerate" work. Fearing   
  
for his family's safety and for his life, he left Germany with them and emigrated to Canada.   
  
Josef and Maria promised to write to each other, but eventually the Nazis halted international   
  
mail and the letters stopped.  
  
If you hadn't left, wondered Maria, would I be marrying you today, Josef?  
  
The knock at the door woke her from her memories and she tried to calm the tightness   
  
that had suddenly grown in her throat.  
  
Her father stood there, tall and proud in his formal suit. Strains of organ music   
  
floated in as friends and relations filed out to find their seats.  
  
"Ready?" He asked, after his wife had kissed them both and they were alone in the hall.  
  
Maria looked up into the green eyes she had inherited and smiled nervously.  
  
"Ready."  
  
For as long as he lived, Krumens, the best man, would never forget the expression on his   
  
mentor's face as he watched his bride walk up the aisle. It was a look of such amazement,   
  
almost helplessness, as if his iron self-confidence was being challenged by the presence of   
  
some celestial being in a white dress. But it passed across his face for only a moment before   
  
vanishing, and Krumens did not see it again.  
  
The ceremony proceeded rather well, despite some periodic sniffling from Maria's mother.   
  
The reception was held that evening and went on late into the night with toasts, music, food   
  
and dancing. Everyone was having a good time, even those who earlier, out of jealousy of Max,   
  
had made several cruel speculations amongst themselves about whether the children would   
  
resemble their mother or their father. But by the end of the night they too were joining in   
  
and congratulating the newlyweds.  
  
It was about midnight when the party came to an end. Maria and Max thanked everyone for   
  
coming and eventually made their way to the car and headed home.  
  
"Home" was now Max's upscale flat. A day earlier, Herr Schweitzer had come by to help   
  
him move in Maria's belongings. It certainly would not have been acceptable, after all, for   
  
the two of them to live together in an unmarried state.  
  
Once inside the door, Max and Maria stood silently holding each other for a moment.  
  
"Are you happy?" Max asked quietly after a moment.  
  
His wife smiled up at him. "Yes," she replied and hugged him more tightly.  
  
******  
  
At some time during the night, the solution came to him. He had been lying there going   
  
over the project for several hours, trying to determine where precisely the problem was coming   
  
from. Then an idea hit him. It had to be the answer. He was sure of it. Slowly and carefully,   
  
he eased himself out from under the head of soft red hair, which had been lying on his chest.   
  
Good. She was still asleep. He put on his glasses and a housecoat and crept out of the room,   
  
closing the door softly behind him.  
  
So it was that Maria von Reichter unknowingly spent her first night as a married woman   
  
alone, while her husband revised a series of chemical formulas at his desk until morning.  
  
The first two years of the 1940's were successful both in turning the world on its ear   
  
and in casting a sinister shadow over the entire decade which would remain well through the   
  
end of the century. Only a month prior to Maria's wedding, German forces conquered France and   
  
marched audaciously through l'Arc du Triumphe in Paris. Country after country fell to the Nazi   
  
war machine. Even Britain, Britain who for so long had been the strongest and the most   
  
formidable of powers, was now facing the nightly terror of the Blitz from an equally strong   
  
and formidable opponent.  
  
Then, just when it seemed that everything had changed, one more incident turned things   
  
around again. On December 7, 1941, the tiny island nation of Japan attacked Pearl Harbour,   
  
bringing the United States out of its isolationism and into the battle. War now completely   
  
encircled the globe.  
  
Maria's life at this time was, she concluded, bittersweet. The war frightened and   
  
worried her, but she was able to push it to the back of her mind when she was at school,   
  
especially on the days her classes took her to nursery schools to work directly with children.   
  
Max was very busy as well, as his talents and intelligence were in high demand by the   
  
government. He promised things would be less hectic once the war was over, however, and Maria   
  
looked forward to it.  
  
But there was another problem the couple shared that could not be as easily dealt with   
  
by waiting for the end of the war. And increasingly it was becoming present in the thoughts of   
  
both.  
  
They had been trying to have a baby. At first they were a little disappointed when   
  
nothing happened, but remained optimistic. It was probably just bad timing, they told each   
  
other confidently. So they continued trying. Still there was no baby, and they began to worry.   
  
Eventually the topic was no longer brought up out of discomfort.  
  
When Maria discovered that she was pregnant that fall, she and Max breathed a sigh of   
  
relief. There was nothing wrong with them after all. But several weeks later Maria was rushed   
  
to hospital with sever abdominal pain, where it was determined that she had miscarried. The   
  
couple were heartbroken and nervous, for if a husband and wife could not perpetuate the Aryan   
  
race, they would certainly not find favour with the intrusive Nazi regime which controlled   
  
their lives. Max and Maria vowed, therefore, to tell no one about what had happened.  
  
Life continued its bittersweet path into 1942, until Max came home one day late in   
  
January with an announcement, the true implications of which Maria would not realise until   
  
much later:  
  
"We're moving to Poland." 


	7. Seven

Chapter Seven  
  
"The strength of a nation is derived from the integrity of its homes." - Confucius  
  
Maria sighed and gazed out the window at the countryside rushing by. It was fairly quiet   
  
inside her train cabin; Lilli was asleep inside her carrier and the only sound was the low   
  
rumble of wheels on tracks, accompanied by the occasional turn of a book page.  
  
Maria was fuming. It was ridiculous: moving to a country she didn't know where the   
  
people spoke a language she didn't understand for a reason she was not allowed to learn. When   
  
Max told her they were moving, she had brought these points up, and he became absolutely   
  
furious at her. How dare she question the Fuhrer's orders? She was putting her comfort above   
  
the good of her country! Inexcusable! Maria was furious right back, appalled at a side of him   
  
she had never seen before. The fighting had gone on for hours, ending only when Maria stormed   
  
into the bedroom with Lilli and locked the door. Eventually Max gave up trying to get her out   
  
and spent the rest of the night drinking.  
  
Maria's anger was refuelled by the memory. She glared across the cabin at Max, who was   
  
engaged in reading yet another evolution-biology-theory sort of book. Which was what he read   
  
when he wasn't reading the newspaper. But at least he wasn't making those little opinion   
  
noises for once, she considered. If he started doing that she would probably have to strangle   
  
him.  
  
Maria was still glaring when she suddenly became aware of eyes watching her. Annoyed,   
  
she met the gaze of her observer, the blond young man sitting next to her husband. That   
  
Krumens. She didn't know his first name. He had latched on to Max in university, regarding his   
  
classmate as some sort of mentor. Now that Max had established himself in the scientific   
  
community, he had taken Krumens on as an assistant, no doubt enjoying the praise and   
  
admiration which were lavished upon him.  
  
Maria, on the other hand, couldn't stand Krumens. He made no secret of his dislike for   
  
her either, often outdoing Maria in the field of venomous looks.  
  
As she and Krumens stared each other down, Maria mused over how effeminate his grudge   
  
against her was. An image of Krumens dressed like a woman suddenly danced into her head and   
  
Maria had to look away from him to keep from laughing. She put her cheek in her hand and   
  
pretended to look out the window, but she couldn't help herself and let out a muffled snicker.  
  
The noise distracted Max from his book and he looked up from behind a forelock of black   
  
hair. Maria was trying to compose herself as if nothing had happened.   
  
"What was that?"  
  
"What was what?" Maria returned blank-faced.  
  
She received an eyebrow raised in doubt as Max went back to his book, Irritated, she let   
  
out a sigh of frustration.  
  
This time the book descended to his lap. Max was not impressed by his wife's behaviour.   
  
Krumens looked pale.  
  
"Try language," he uttered icily after a moment. "It's much more effective."  
  
"Sorry, the only language I know is German," Maria snapped, making a far-from-subtle   
  
reference to the topic of their feud.  
  
Max suddenly looked very tired. He appeared to have a headache as well, rubbing his eyes   
  
under his glasses.  
  
"Maria, we've gone over this a dozen times…"  
  
"No, you've gone over it a dozen times! I've never been given the chance to have any say   
  
in the matter!"  
  
Max thrust his face in Maria's and she could see a cold rage in his black eyes. "Damn it   
  
woman, don't start with me," he hissed. "This is neither the time nor the place." Maria tried   
  
hard to stare him down, but finally wavered and gave in. For the first time, she was afraid of   
  
her husband.  
  
******  
  
It was a bright winter morning when Maria walked out to the mailbox. They had only moved   
  
into the little house a week earlier, but already enough letters and packages had arrived for   
  
a month. While most of the mail was from family and friends, quite a bit of it was coming from   
  
Nazi headquarters back in Berlin. Several of the latest packages had contained medical   
  
supplies, which Max always opened and inspected right away, muttering things to himself that   
  
Maria could not always recognise.  
  
She pulled open the door of the mailbox and felt a dull pain in her upper arm. Max had   
  
given her a vaccination before he left for work. There was cholera in the town and he would   
  
not have her die on him. Maria rubbed the injection site grumpily and began taking out the   
  
mail.  
  
Further along the road, Lonia was looking through her mail when she spotted someone else   
  
doing the same. It was the German's wife. She had watched them move in the week before from   
  
her window. The country was crawling with them, the bastards. Decided they were the greatest   
  
things in creation and so were obliged to take the world for themselves. Still, Lonia   
  
reasoned, if the Allies couldn't stop them, it was a good thing she had learned German. She   
  
could tell her slave drivers to go to hell in their own language.  
  
But what about this one? Did she want to conquer the world? Was she in Poland to watch   
  
its demise, or was she here against her will? Lonia eyed the woman curiously. Whoever she   
  
might be, she looked harmless enough from this distance.  
  
Maria stopped flipping through the mail and looked up. Was someone watching her? She   
  
turned her head and saw another woman further up the road. They both froze.  
  
What do I do now? wondered Lonia. Should I be friendly and wave? She probably hates   
  
Poles.  
  
What do I do now? wondered Maria. Should I be friendly and wave? She probably hates   
  
Germans.  
  
Lonia took a breath, hoped for the best, and gave the German woman a short wave. Looking   
  
astounded, Maria waved back. The both felt silly for being so scared and started walking up to   
  
meet each other.  
  
"Dziendobry," said Maria. "Hello" was about the only Polish she knew.  
  
"Welcome to Poland," replied Lonia in passable German.  
  
Maria couldn't believe her luck! "You speak German?" she gasped  
  
"A little," grinned the other. "My name's Lonia Kiedrowski."  
  
"I'm Maria von Reichter, hi." She thought Lonia was pretty. She had such friendly blue   
  
eyes and lots of dark wavy hair. Lucky, Maria thought idly, she never got in trouble for   
  
fighting with boys who called her "Carrots" at school!  
  
They ended up in Lonia's kitchen having tea. Maria gazed longingly at the children's   
  
drawings decorating the walls. Lonia had two, a boy and a girl.  
  
"Do you have children?" she asked.  
  
Maria shifted uncomfortably. "Um, no...not yet, I mean," she said. Lonia touched her arm   
  
and smiled kindly.  
  
"Don't worry. Sometimes it just takes time. You'll see."  
  
"Thanks, Lonia." A though occurred to Maria and she felt a twinge of guilt. "Gee, I'm   
  
sorry we had to meet this way."  
  
"You mean the war?"  
  
"Well, yes...my country is invading yours, doing God knows what...it's not right."  
  
"But it's not your fault. You weren't the one who organised it."  
  
"I know. Still."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
There was silence for a moment.  
  
"So you don't agree with Hitler?"  
  
Maria grinned mischievously. "Nope." And they giggled like two naughty schoolgirls.  
  
Maria and Lonia found themselves becoming fast friends. Lonia helped Maria with her   
  
Polish, and she in turn taught Lonia the things she had been learning in school. They had   
  
lunch together, went into town together, and shared secrets with each other. The war be damned,   
  
they were friends and nothing could take that away.  
  
Lonia came in from the kitchen. "Well, they're fighting again," she said sadly.  
  
Her husband looked up. "Who?"  
  
"The neighbours. The Germans." She sat down in an armchair and sighed. "He comes home,   
  
and more often than not I can hear them fighting from our kitchen."   
  
"Oh."  
  
"It's always his fault," she added after a moment. "He loses his temper at everything   
  
and his poor wife has to defend herself somehow."  
  
Her husband smiled at her thoughtfully. "You know, it's funny, but I never would have   
  
expected you to pity a German. I just always assumed you hated them like everyone else around   
  
here."  
  
"I thought I did," confessed Lonia. "But I guess I realised that some of them are   
  
victims too." 


	8. Eight

Chapter Eight  
  
"Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves." - Abraham Lincoln  
  
July 1944  
  
The front door slammed shut and Maria awoke with a start. She relaxed when she heard the   
  
lock clank into place, and closed her eyes again. Max had finally come home.  
  
She listened as his footsteps approached the bedroom. He had come home this late many   
  
times before, sometimes even later. Maria was becoming used to falling asleep by herself, and   
  
waking up in the morning to find the other side of the bed slept in and empty. At least on   
  
those nights they didn't fight.  
  
The bedroom door opened and the shadow of a figure, outlined by the harsh light of the   
  
hallway, draped itself across the bed. Maria turned over to look and shivered despite herself.  
  
There was Max in his official uniform: his shirt and tie, an armband, riding pants and   
  
polished leather boots. The uniform Maria hated so much, on the man she had married for love.   
  
She wondered if she would ever become used to the sight.  
  
Later, covers bunched around her for warmth, Maria lay quietly and listened to the faint   
  
snoring coming from Max. Please God, she prayed, Please let that have been the time it worked.   
  
I want that baby so badly, and I'm afraid of what he might do to me if I can't get pregnant   
  
again. Please let me have Max's baby.  
  
The doctor was lost in thought as he drove down the long road to work. It was a warm,   
  
dry summer morning and the hood of the car was flecked with dust kicked up by the tires.  
  
Things were not working out as smoothly as he would like. Last month, the Allied forces   
  
had invaded Europe through Normandy and had settled in firmly to make trouble for the Reich.   
  
It was this threat that preyed on the doctor's concentration and was holding him back in his   
  
work. He was making impressive advances in reproductive and evolutionary studies, but he knew   
  
he would be capable of even more if he could only be completely confident that Germany would   
  
crush her opponents and leave him to continue his research. This was such a perfect place to   
  
do it, and he had all the resources he needed.  
  
On the other side of the iron gates, the doctor acknowledged a number of salutes as he   
  
made his way to the medical offices. His co-workers seemed to respect him with an awe that   
  
occasionally bordered on fear, and he planned to keep it that way. He could not let them know,   
  
therefore, that he was secretly embarrassed about his personal life. Nearly three years ago   
  
Maria had lost the baby and she hadn't been pregnant since. It was humiliating; a top   
  
biologist whose wife couldn't accomplish something even the simplest of his laboratory animals   
  
were capable of. Surely people would start to talk soon, if they hadn't already. And his rival   
  
scientists would have a field day with it. So much for his standing with the Fuhrer then.  
  
If you cannot create life, Maria, then I will, he vowed, as he pulled on a white lab   
  
coat.  
  
August 1944   
  
"Will you come with me?"  
  
Lonia closed the front door for their privacy. "Where?"  
  
"Doctor's appointment," answered Maria. She smiled anxiously.  
  
Several worrisome circumstances ran through Lonia's mind before she realised what Maria   
  
was up to.  
  
"Oh my God..." she began excitedly. Maria threw her arms around Lonia and they hopped   
  
about in the front hall, hugging and laughing.  
  
The two women tightly held hands as they waited for the doctor to return with the   
  
results. The tests had to be positive, they just had to be. Maria was never this late, not   
  
even when she was under stress, and Lonia assured her that this was exactly what had convinced   
  
her to get tested when she found out she was pregnant with her first child.  
  
After what felt like hours, the doctor finally came back into the office. He gave a   
  
polite nod to Lonia, understanding why she had appeared in the office by her friend's side   
  
while he had been gone. She and Maria stared at him expectantly and he cleared his throat.  
  
"Congratulations, Mrs. von Reichter, you're going to be a mother!"  
  
Maria sat nearly motionless as she took in the news, feeling complete and utter happiness  
  
fill her heart. Then she was laughing and crying in Lonia's arms, tears of joy tickling her   
  
face. A baby was finally coming.  
  
"So, are you going to tell Max the news when he comes home tonight?" asked Lonia as they   
  
walked home.  
  
"I don't know," replied Maria. She was deciding upon a plan of action. "I think I'll say   
  
nothing and see how long it takes for him to figure it out himself."  
  
"Ooh, you play tough, young lady!" quipped Lonia, and Maria laughed. Maybe it was sneaky   
  
of her, but she figured she was entitled to a little experimenting.  
  
The novelty quickly wore off however when, after two weeks, Max still hadn't noticed   
  
anything different It was still too early for Maria to be showing, but she was noticing other   
  
changes in herself that she couldn't believe Max failed to see. She was eating different foods   
  
(some things made her feel sick now), she felt tired more often, and she was convinced than   
  
her face looked different, rounder somehow. Maria didn't believe that he had noticed but not   
  
cared. She knew he wanted a baby every bit as much as she did. No, she concluded, he was just   
  
too involved in his theories and measurements and equations to notice that the heir he wanted   
  
was now more than just a wish.  
  
One night, whether it was her temper or another bout of nausea, Maria's patience finally   
  
wore out. She stalked into the drawing room, where Max was working industriously at his desk,   
  
and glowered at the back of his head with anger. Enough was enough.  
  
She kept walking until she was standing right behind his chair. He hadn't heard her   
  
approach.  
  
"Is that all you ever do?" she asked, voice dripping with contempt.  
  
Max was startled. He hated being startled. Turning to respond to the insolent remark, he   
  
stood up and gave Maria a look of disgust.  
  
"What I am doing," he replied through clenched teeth, "is of the utmost importance to   
  
the future of the Reich. And when I am busy" -and here his voice began to increase in volume-   
  
"I cannot be interrupted simply to entertain you!"  
  
"You're always busy! You love Germany more than you love me!" accused Maria.  
  
She made a noise of surprise as Max grabbed her wrists and pulled her towards him.  
  
"Don't you ever say that to me again," he growled at her, "Don't you ever say that!"  
  
Finding her voice, Maria shot back, "I'll say it whenever I want because it's true,   
  
von Reichter!"  
  
He smacked her in the face, hard. She cried out and stumbled away from him, holding her   
  
cheek to make it stop hurting. Looking back at Max through a blur of hot tears, she saw that   
  
his expression was the same as before. He stood his ground, shaking with rage.  
  
"Oh Max," she whimpered, "I'm going to have a baby and you're too busy to even notice."   
  
She collapsed onto the couch, sobbing.  
  
Maria would have been satisfied, had she looked up, to see the look of horror on her   
  
husband's face as the news sunk in. She had done it. After three years of trying she had   
  
finally done it. But were there still risks? What if he had just caused her to miscarry again?  
  
Max approached her and tried to calm his emotions. Maria had curled herself into a ball   
  
at the far end of the couch, facing away from him and was crying softly.  
  
"Are you sure?" he asked after a moment.  
  
"Yes!" Her reply was teary and frustrated. She didn't look up.  
  
He put his hands on his hips and tried to think of something to say.  
  
Silence.  
  
"You should go to bed and get some sleep then," he ventured quietly. It was all he could   
  
come up with.  
  
"All right." Maria complied and started to get up. She was too tired and sore to argue.  
  
  
  
Lying underneath her cool linen sheets, Maria stared at the ceiling and listened to the   
  
noise coming from the yard. It sounded like cursing, but she could only catch a few random   
  
pieces of words. There was a sudden smash of broken glass and she realised that Max was drunk.   
  
I hope he doesn't wake up Lonia's children with that racket, She thought ruefully. Good luck   
  
explaining to them about "the drunk, wife-beating scientist next door." God.  
  
Some time later, the noise died down to Max stumbling back into the house. Maria   
  
pretended to be asleep and listened as his footsteps crossed the threshold of the bedroom door,   
  
and went about half a meter before he lost his balance and fell over himself.  
  
"Damn floor moved," he slurred as he got up and crawled onto the bed. Maria felt a hand   
  
groping for her, and angrily flipped over. She lay stiffly and waited for him to give up.   
  
Mercifully, he soon did as he passed out in a drunken stupor.  
  
"Jerk," muttered Maria, and finally let herself drift off to sleep.  
  
September 1944  
  
If Fall 1944 had a theme, for Maria it was worry. More specifically, it was worry about   
  
parents. Germany was losing the war and was being bombed by the British and the Americans.   
  
Frequently she would call her parents, or Max's, on the telephone to make sure they were still   
  
safe and healthy. Lonia, whose parents were rather elderly, moved her family to stay with them   
  
for a year, worried just like Maria about what the war might deal them. Before she left, Lonia   
  
had given Maria her old maternity clothes, saying it was the least she could to since she   
  
probably couldn't make it for the birth in March. Maria promised to send her weekly updates,   
  
and they shared a tearful goodbye.  
  
Now that she was on her own all day and getting bored, Maria decided to explore the   
  
countryside around her, and embarked on a series of daily walks, Lilli excitedly running   
  
alongside her.  
  
For the first little while, they walked along quiet roads stretching past acres of   
  
farmland, found pleasant country lanes and cottages, and greeted people they met along the   
  
way. Lilli investigated every gatepost and tree of interest, and happily chased the dry leaves   
  
twirling down from their branches. It was on these walks that Maria first felt her baby   
  
kicking inside her, and heard her intuition saying that it was a boy. She felt calmer and   
  
safer out here, away from the noisy town and the German soldiers occupying it. She felt calm   
  
away from Max.  
  
There was a puzzle in the countryside, however, that Maria wanted to solve. There was a   
  
funny, sweetish smell in the air, she found, which got stronger the further Southwest she   
  
went. It had always been present, but smells seemed more pronounced now that she was pregnant,   
  
and more disagreeable. She had asked a few people about it, but they appeared to know nothing   
  
more than she did. Maria became more and more curious, and by October she was determined to   
  
find the source.  
  
Lilli, for some reason, liked the smell even less. She would whine as they got to a   
  
particular forested area, standing in one place and looking back towards home. Maria wasn't   
  
about to ignore her pet's odd behaviour, and began to leave Lilli in the house whenever she   
  
went out to investigate. The dog had obviously discovered something she hadn't. Something   
  
about the smell was frightening her.  
  
On a cool, overcast afternoon, Maria put on a winter coat and set out on what she hoped   
  
would be her final quest to get to the smell's source. She had narrowed the field down to the   
  
deeper part of the thicket Lilli disliked, within view of the nearby Sola River. Reaching it,   
  
she found herself becoming nervous, and paused at the edge of the wood to calm herself before   
  
starting into the shadows.  
  
The smell, as Maria continued, became stronger and stronger, and she tried to breathe   
  
through her mouth to block it out. It was sweet but rancid, like burning sugar or fat. Is it a   
  
factory? Maria wondered. Or some kind of depository?  
  
She saw ahead of her that the trees thinned out into a small clearing. Reaching it, she   
  
heard a humming sound and looked across to where the forest thickened again. Through the   
  
branches she could see a brick building and an imposing fence with what looked like a white   
  
sign on it. This had to be where the smell was coming from!  
  
Carefully trying to stay hidden, Maria finally reached the fence, but quickly backed   
  
away. As the sign boldly declared, it was humming with thousands of volts of electricity.   
  
She clapped her hands over her mouth to keep from crying out at how close she had just come   
  
to death. There was a sudden yell from somewhere on the other side of the fence, and finding   
  
the edge of the brick building, Maria peered in at a sight she wished dearly was a nightmare   
  
she could wake up from.  
  
There were people everywhere. Starving, beaten, cadaverous people, more dead than alive,   
  
in striped uniforms like prisoners wore. There were SS officers with guns and dogs, ordering   
  
the people into rows. Maria saw that the prisoners wore something like a badge on their chests.   
  
Yellow badges which, she realised in horror, were Stars of David. Blood pounding in her ears,   
  
Maria felt her heart plunge into her guts as she uneasily followed the bricks of the building   
  
beside her with her eyes, up until they formed rows of chimneys.  
  
And with that terrible sight, it all came together. Where the Jews had gone. What Hitler   
  
had meant by a solution to the "Jewish Problem."  
  
Why Max was called to Poland.  
  
There was the sound of a gunshot and Maria turned and ran. She ran through the forest.   
  
She ran across the fields. She ran, half-crazed with fear and she didn't stop running until   
  
she was back inside her house, locking the deadbolt on the front door.  
  
Lilli ran to her owner, barking and whimpering as if to ask what was wrong. Maria was   
  
leaning against the door, crying hysterically. Presently, she felt the little dog pawing   
  
worriedly at her leg and kneeled down to pick her up.  
  
"They're dying, they're dying," she sobbed, and pressed her face to Lilli's warm,   
  
velvety brown fur, letting the dachshund gently lick the tears from her face.  
  
Dizzy from running and crying, Maria felt a wave of nausea hit her. Putting down Lilli,   
  
who followed behind, she ran into the washroom and was violently sick.  
  
When Max arrived home, he found his wife sitting on the floor beside the toilet, staring   
  
at the floor and looking pale and upset. Assuming she was nauseous from the pregnancy again,   
  
he put a hand on her shoulder and looked for her eyes hidden by her hair.  
  
Don't touch me, she wanted to scream, you're a monster. But she was too exhausted, and   
  
simply sat unmoving until he kissed her head and left the room.  
  
November 1944  
  
"And how are you two doing?"  
  
"Oh, we're fine," answered Maria lightly. She just couldn't bear to tell Max's mother about   
  
the things that really went on. It would break her heart.  
  
"So do you still feel like it's going to be a boy?" asked her mother-in-law excitedly.  
  
"I think so." Maria shifted the phone onto her shoulder and sat down on a kitchen chair.   
  
Standing up was a lot of work with an active baby competing in the Olympics on her bladder.  
  
"Have you picked out any special names yet?"  
  
"I know exactly what I'm going to call him," Maria replied happily. She looked down at   
  
her stomach and smiled as she thought of her baby's namesake. "I'm going to call him Josef." 


	9. Nine

Chapter Nine  
  
"Friends applaud, the comedy is over." - Beethoven's last words  
  
  
  
March 1945   
  
It was only a few hours past dawn when Maria woke up. She had been dreaming about the   
  
beach where her family used to vacation when she was a girl. In the dream she was very young   
  
and was picking up shells with a boy about the same age as her. Looking at him, she realised   
  
that he was her unborn child, and was about to speak to him when she suddenly woke up. It was   
  
a bit disappointing. She wondered what she would have said.  
  
Knowing she should probably get up now that she was awake, Maria sat up, stretched and,   
  
with some difficulty, got to her feet. She was well into her third trimester and hoped to come   
  
to the end of it soon. She felt like one of the hippos people hunted on safari, and was pretty   
  
sure she could pass for one.  
  
She turned to go to the dresser and stopped short. "What in the world -"  
  
The top of the dresser was completely cleared of her jewelry box, perfume and pill   
  
bottles. Her luggage was lined up in front of it, and on inspection Maria discovered each piece   
  
was full of her clothes and other belongings, all folded and organised tidily. On the tallest   
  
suitcase there lay a manilla envelope. She opened it with growing curiousity.  
  
Inside the envelope were a passport, several identification papers, a significant   
  
fistful of cash, and a folded piece of notepaper. Maria unfolded the note and saw that it was   
  
a letter:  
  
Liebschen,  
  
It is too dangerous for us to stay here any longer. Britain and America are approaching   
  
from the west and Russia from the east. As I am a well-known scientist, my work is of   
  
great interest and use to each of them. However, also being a German and therefore an   
  
enemy, they would most likely imprison or execute me before proceeding to take my work   
  
for themselves. I have no doubt that this puts you, as my wife and the mother of my   
  
child, at a great risk as well.  
  
I have put together a plan to ensure our safety. As you read this, in fact, Krumens and   
  
I are already carrying it out. Using the passport and papers in this envelope, you will   
  
travel by train at night through the Bavarian mountains and the Alps. We will meet at   
  
the Swiss border where we can travel together in safety. It is likely at this time that   
  
you will begin to have contractions, and I will take you to a Swiss hospital to have the   
  
baby. I realize that this may be inconvenient and stressful for you, but there really is   
  
no other choice. After "Josef" is born, I will explain to you the rest of my plan and   
  
with luck we will quickly continue on our way.  
  
I have gone ahead of you and have taken measures to ensure that your journey will be as   
  
easy and efficient as possible. I have made all the reservations and the train stations   
  
are expecting you. The money should cover any other expenses. This afternoon, two   
  
soldiers will arrive at the house in an army vehicle to take you to the first station.   
  
Remember to go by the name on your papers and you should have no problems.  
  
-Max  
  
By the time Maria finished reading, she was frustrated to tears. Night-time train rides?   
  
False I.D.'s? Switzerland? Why the hell did he think she would do all that, after the way he   
  
had treated her? She just wouldn't do it. She could stay here and...  
  
No, I can't stay, she realised. If I don't end up getting killed, I'll have to find   
  
somewhere to live. I can't burden Lonia and her family. I can't stay with my parents or Max's   
  
- they'll be furious that I left him. If they're still alive. If Berlin is still standing, oh   
  
my God...and I can't pay rent and take care of Josef on my own; where could a woman get a job   
  
now that the war's ending? It'll be like the 1920's all over again.   
  
She had to go with Max, and he knew she did. He might be a bastard to her, but he could   
  
afford to take care of her baby, and that was all that mattered now.  
  
Then there's one last thing I have to do, Maria concluded, and began to look through the   
  
luggage for her stationary.  
  
Things were slow at the train station and the man in the box office was having a   
  
conversation with the conductor. They both looked up as an army jeep rumbled into the parking   
  
lot.  
  
"Those are our guys, right?" asked the man in the office, leaning closer to the glass   
  
window and squinting. "It's getting to dark out to see much from in here."  
  
"Yup. German soldiers, German truck. Haven't seen too many of them lately."  
  
"Where've they gone?"  
  
His friend shrugged. "Whenever the Yanks aren't, I guess. So what's the story on this   
  
guy again?"  
  
"Oh yeah. He's a doctor who came through here on his way to Switzerland this morning   
  
with his assistant or something. He wanted to make another reservation for later today for his   
  
wife. Now, normally I can do a job like that without even thinking, but the way this guy was   
  
talking down to me, I almost couldn't do it at all! Right from the start, he was treating me   
  
as if I was wasting his time with my stupidity. You wouldn't believe how intense this guy was!"  
  
"Shit, sounds like a real people person."  
  
"You're telling me! Anyway, that wasn't the end of the show. After that he was in the   
  
waiting room with this assistant of his who was following him around like a dog, and I could   
  
hear him going on about 'not being respected enough' and how he was so insulted by people who   
  
don't understand his 'incredible advances,' whatever the hell that means. And his lackey was   
  
eating it up! I couldn't help but listen in, it was insane!"  
  
"Friggin' mental case! So this is his wife getting out of the truck, then?" The   
  
conductor indicated her with a nod.  
  
"Bride of Frankenstein, I'd call her," smirked the other. He craned his neck to get a   
  
closer look through the dying light and was surprised by what he saw. "Well, I'll be damned..."  
  
The sight of a very pretty and very pregnant woman, followed by two hulking soldiers with   
  
three suitcases and a dog carrier, was quite a spectacle. The two men and the handful of other   
  
people waiting on the platform watched curiously as the precession approached.  
  
"Um, Frau Planck?" asked the man in the box office.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
He met her gaze, went pink, and tried to avoid it. "Uh, your seat has been reserved...  
  
um, may I see yours papers, please?" He went pinker as he wondered if that had sounded at all   
  
suggestive. The conductor was leaning against the opposite wall for support, shaking with   
  
silent laughter at his friend.  
  
The papers were stamped with the bold image of an eagle, clutching a swastika in its   
  
talons. The woman thanked him and made her way to the waiting room, soldiers following behind.  
  
After the train arrived, and all the passengers and luggage were aboard, the soldiers   
  
returned to their truck and disappeared down the road. The box office man and the conductor   
  
watched the train chug away thoughtfully.  
  
"Poor kid," said the conductor, resuming their conversation. "Having to go all the way   
  
to Switzerland alone with a baby coming. Just to follow her nutcase husband."  
  
His friend breathed a noise of agreement. "How does a nice girl like that end up with a   
  
guy like him?" he mused.  
  
Lonia's hands trembled as she finished reading the letter. Concerned, her husband and   
  
parents approached.  
  
"Honey, what's wrong?" asked her husband, putting his hand on her shoulder. Lonia stared   
  
down at the piece of paper, trying to stop the tears she felt welling in her eyes from falling.  
  
"Oh Stan, it's terrible. I just can't believe it," she replied softly.  
  
"What's terrible? What happened?" he held her more closely, feeling a sense of dread.  
  
Lonia slowly began to read aloud:   
  
Dearest Lonia,  
  
Your friendship and kindness these past years have been such priceless gifts to me. I   
  
can't thank you enough for being so wonderful and so generous. No one could ask for a   
  
better friend.  
  
I am so sorry to tell you the news, but you must know. By the time you receive this   
  
letter, I will be far away from Poland. Max is wanted by the allies, and is taking me   
  
with him to safety. I don't know where we are going, or for how long. All I know is that   
  
with him, my baby will always have food and clothing. I can't raise him on my own, and I   
  
could never impose on you and your husband. I have to go with Max.  
  
I wish you and your family all the best.  
  
"We'll meet again..."  
  
Love, your friend Maria  
  
  
  
I'm sorry, Lonia, thought Maria, sadness filling her heart at the memory of the letter   
  
she had written. She ran her hand across the maternity dress draped over her round stomach. I   
  
still have your clothes, too, she added ruefully.  
  
Josef suddenly kicked and turned over, reminding his mother of happier things, of having   
  
a family. She would raise her son to be open-minded and tolerant, Maria promised herself. She   
  
would encourage him to learn and to explore all the opportunities around him. Even though the   
  
world he was about to be born into was confusing and often harsh, Maria would try her hardest   
  
to give Josef the best life she could.  
  
In the barren train station at the border, Max impatiently smoked one cigarette after   
  
another. He knew Maria would come, but he was anxious to get started. That damned dog had   
  
better not be slowing her up. It was so annoying lately, growling whenever he came near. If it   
  
didn't have to follow Maria everywhere he'd like to kick it.  
  
Never mind, Max decided, flicking the ashes off his coat. The baby was much more   
  
important than her spoiled dachshund. Max was excited, and hoped that it really was a boy. He   
  
would raise his son to be a model Aryan man, strong, smart and proud of his German roots. With   
  
the intelligence of the von Reichters and the beauty of the Schweitzers, little Josef couldn't   
  
help but be remarkable.  
  
And someday, Max thought, he will join me in my work.  
  
The doctor could not have known about the two men hiding in the snowy thicket several   
  
yards back down the railroad line. They could not have known about him, either. They were here   
  
on a mission, knowing that these nocturnal trains were sure to be carrying fugitive war   
  
criminals. Justice had to be carried out.  
  
The men had seen their country destroyed by the Reich, and their loved ones murdered. It   
  
had only been a week since they had broken away from a deathmarch and they still could not be   
  
sure that no one would catch them. But since hearing about the escaping Nazi leaders, both   
  
decided to take a risk and seek a little revenge for those who hadn't been as lucky as   
  
themselves.  
  
The equipment was crude, but all the effort spent collecting and putting it together   
  
would be worth it, the men told each other. Everything was set to go.  
  
The sound of a distant train whistle made the two of them perk up like rabbits. Their   
  
hearts began to pound as they burrowed back further into the bushes. The man with the bandage   
  
on his forehead fished in his pocket and produced a matchbook while the other watched him   
  
anxiously.  
  
"This is it," the bandaged man said in a low voice. The train was coming into view. He   
  
followed the fuse with his eyes up to the tracks, making sure for the hundredth time that it   
  
had a clear path. It was the big moment. He struck the match and held it to the end of the   
  
fuse with a shaking hand. It took.   
  
His friend began to count down. Ten, nine, eight...the flame hissed along the fuse.   
  
Seven, six...at five, emotion overcoming him, the man stopped counting and addressed the   
  
fast-approaching train in a growl, tears forming in his tired eyes.  
  
"This is for the children, you bastards!" The flame reached the explosives just as the   
  
first car rolled over top.  
  
Max and Krumens instinctively hit the floor as a huge explosion suddenly rocked the train   
  
station. After the horrendous noises had died down, they turned to see thick smoke billowing   
  
from the fiery shell of the train just down the track. Ordering Krumens to get help, Max raced   
  
towards the wreckage in a panic.  
  
The two men had already fled the scene as he came to the first car. He peered through the   
  
smoke and made a path into the charred wood and twisted metal. If he could only find her...he   
  
saw a rigid, shredded hand rising out of the debris and froze. Oh God, don't let that be her,   
  
please don't let that -  
  
There was a small noise from the left and something moved. Max threw himself towards it   
  
and started digging frantically. He saw part of a familiar dress! He dug further and suddenly   
  
felt a limb. It moved!  
  
He finally was able to lift the body out of the rubble and cried out with relief as he   
  
saw that it was Maria. He carried her away from the wreck and onto a patch of soggy grass,   
  
exposed from the heat of the explosion. She was dirty, burned and bleeding, but still alive.   
  
Max held her to him and called her name softly.  
  
Maria slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him, trying to focus. Her lips moved a   
  
little, but nothing came out but laboured breaths and a few pink bubbles.  
  
"It's all right now Maria, it's all right. I've got you," Max assured her. His eyes were   
  
wet, but he was smiling. "You're going to be fine, you and the baby, my sweet darling Maria,   
  
it's going to be all right!" He held her closer and stroked her hair. "My angel..."  
  
She gave a weak laugh. "Such insanity..."  
  
Max looked at her face in confusion. She smiled sadly.  
  
"He - created Man," she murmured and closed her eyes, too weak to keep them open any   
  
more. "And Man - destroys himself." She cringed as a spasm of pain gripped her, then let out a   
  
ragged breath and was still.  
  
Eyes wide, Max felt her neck for a pulse. Nothing. Terrified, he put his trembling hand   
  
on her stomach and slid it all around, searching for movement. The baby which normally was so   
  
busy kicking and turning was motionless. He looked down at the blood-soaked hem of Maria's   
  
skirt and felt his heart finally break.  
  
"NOOOO!"  
  
Krumens looked up at the sound of the doctor's yell. He and the group of police took off   
  
towards the railroad.  
  
They found Max on the wet grass, holding the ruined body of his wife close and crying   
  
hysterically. He was too overcome even to push Krumens away when the man knelt down and put a   
  
hand on his master's back. A sad silence descended over the group as the policemen removed   
  
their hats in respect for the latest victims of the war. 


	10. Ten

Chapter Ten  
  
The end of the war in Europe had just been declared as Maria's funeral was organised in   
  
Berlin. Mercifully, it was held at a different church than the one in which she had been   
  
married. Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial was, in any case, almost completely destroyed from bombing.  
  
A thin and weary-looking figure slipped into the church, among the last few people to   
  
arrive. She unassumingly took a seat in the back and looked around her at the unfamiliar   
  
surroundings.  
  
Janina didn't really know how she had survived the death camp. Luck, she supposed. As   
  
soon as she had been liberated and had seen the ruined city she was freed into, the former   
  
housekeeper decided that she wanted no more of the place and had gotten a ticket on the next   
  
boat to New York City. She had a cousin there and he would help her.  
  
She would have already left had it not been for an article in the newspaper about Maria's   
  
death and her husband's disappearance. With little information about the witnesses, it said   
  
that her body had been identified and taken to a morgue in Switzerland until her family had   
  
been informed. They, of course, had it immediately brought back home for burial. Janina felt a   
  
sense of duty after reading the news. She couldn't leave without first paying her respects to   
  
a good friend.  
  
When the service ended and guests were allowed to approach the casket before burial,   
  
Janina bravely began to walk up the aisle. She prepared herself for the possibility of being   
  
recognised by the family.  
  
The smooth oak coffin was surrounded by a sea of flowers and candles. Nestled in the red   
  
velvet lining, dressed in a long white night-gown as if she were asleep in bed, was Maria. She   
  
had been cleaned up, her wounds were stitched, and she nearly looked alive.   
  
Please don't blame yourself for what happened to me, Maria, Janina said in her mind. I   
  
know you never bought into the hatred.  
  
She turned from the coffin to see the Schweitzer family staring at her with unreadable   
  
expressions on their faces. No one knew just what to say.  
  
Janina spoke first. "I...I wanted to say goodbye..."  
  
Frau Schweitzer caught her completely off guard as she suddenly embraced the willowy   
  
woman fiercely.  
  
"Oh God, forgive us, Janina," she sobbed, "please forgive us; we were wrong..."  
  
Janina began to cry herself and returned the embrace gratefully. "Oh, Luise..." Herr   
  
Schweitzer stared at the floor, embarrassed and ashamed at how anti-Semitic hatred had   
  
manifested itself. The von Reichters had already been devastated enough by their son's criminal   
  
charges and disappearance. But still they got up to stand by their in-law's side in sympathy.  
  
Rudi turned away from the scene in disgust. If it weren't for Janina's kind, his sister   
  
and nephew would still be alive. His brother-in-law would be safe. Yet here was his family   
  
apologising to her! Where was their loyalty to the Reich?  
  
And whose side will they be on at my military trial? He wondered in horror, throwing a   
  
glance at the American GI who was assigned to him.  
  
  
  
Maria was buried in a quiet, shady cemetery plot close to the graves of her ancestors.   
  
Her tombstone was made of pale marble, with twin cherubs in prayer sculpted at the top to guard   
  
her. There was a double inscription on the face. It was often partially obscured by bouquets   
  
from the family, and also from an increasing number of Berlin camp survivors who had heard sad   
  
rumours that Maria was the girl who had brought them food years before. They were always   
  
saddened further by the words on the stone:  
  
  
  
Maria Charlotte von Reichter   
  
Born Maria Schweitzer April 12, 1920  
  
Died March 7, 1945  
  
Beloved daughter of Konrad and Luise  
  
Mother of  
  
Josef von Reichter  
  
1945  
  
"Suffer the little children to come unto me."  
  
******  
  
The group of crew members talked and laughed among themselves as they made their way to   
  
the mess hall. The sun had just begun to set and the starboard deck was glowing in the golden   
  
light.  
  
Squinting in the brightness, one of the workers caught sight of the two passengers the   
  
captain had taken on at Genoa, and pointed them out. His friends, in high spirits as it was   
  
dinnertime and the end of their shifts, loudly greeted the men as they passed by. The younger,   
  
blond one was amiable enough and waved, but the older one with black hair eyed them with silent   
  
contempt.  
  
"Honestly, Krumens," von Reichter remarked without eye contact when the workers had gone,   
  
"there's no use in being familiar with them if you don't even speak the same language."  
  
"But Herr Doktor, maybe they could teach us -"  
  
"The Spanish lessons can wait. We have a great deal of time." He turned and stood at the   
  
railing, light catching the monocle he had taken to wearing in place of glasses. Krumens   
  
understood that the conversation was over, and presently returned to his cabin.  
  
Von Reichter tried to stop himself as he felt tears forming in his eyes again. It   
  
happened at all times of the day lately. A memory of her smile, or her voice, or the way her   
  
hair smelled - Maria would suddenly fill his mind and he was helpless against the pain. The   
  
world was such a cruel place.  
  
One day I will change all that, he vowed. One day the world will answer to me. 


End file.
